I. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the art of methods and apparatuses for lawn care devices, and more particularly to methods and apparatuses for directing lawn debris within a chipper shredder apparatus.
II. Description of the Related Art
It is well known to provide chipper shredder apparatuses with a chute or hopper for use in directing lawn debris such as leaves and sticks into the cutting portion of the chipper shredder. A known problem that has remained unsolved in the art relates to the use of a positionable chute. Such a chute may be positioned in an upward facing position or, alternately, in a downwardly facing position. It is desirable to provide some type of guard that will prevent debris from being projected out of the chute while the chute is in the upward facing position. It is also desirable to provide a means for moving the guard out of the way while the chute is in the downwardly facing position. In this way, lawn debris can be easily swept into the chute without having to be forced through or around the guard.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,459 to Gearing et al. discloses a hopper fixedly attached to the main body of a chipper shredder machine. A multi-fingered guard is attached near one edge of the hopper and is used to prevent debris from being projected back out of the hopper. One disadvantage of this hopper is that it is fixed into an upwardly facing position. Debris close to the ground must be lifted to the height of the hopper before it can be inserted into the hopper. Another disadvantage is that the guard remains in the same relative position with regard to the hopper opening. In other words, the guard maintains a constant coverage over the cross-sectional area of the hopper opening.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,035, Ford discloses a chipper shredder having two input chutes. One of the input chutes can be pivoted such that the chute opening faces in an upward direction or in a downward direction. A disadvantage is that no guard is provided with this chute. The other chute, fixed in an upwardly facing position, includes a manually adjustable cover that can be used to fully cover, or shut off, the opening of the chute. The disadvantage here, as in the shredder noted above, is that the chute cannot be adjusted into a downwardly facing direction and thus debris close to the ground must be lifted to the height of the hopper before it can be inserted into the chute.
Other similar designs are also known. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,416, Bendig et al. disclose a shredder that includes an input chute that has a dislodge press that is hinged to one side of the input chute. The chute of this patent is not position adjustable, and the dislodge press is only manually adjustable. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,152, Mooring discloses a chipper having a delivery chute with a gate that is automatically closed when a metal sensor senses metal entering the delivery chute. This invention requires the operator to wear gloves that have metal fragments. The delivery chute is not disclosed to be adjustable nor is the gate operable except in cooperation with the metal sensor. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,654, Fulghum Sr. discloses a feed chute used to feed a bark hog. Within the feed chute there is disclosed a material and air deflector rigidly mounted to the feed chute. There is no disclosure of the feed chute or deflector being adjustable in any way.
What is needed is a chute that includes a guard flap that covers at least a portion of the chute opening when the chute is positioned in an upwardly facing direction, but that automatically adjusts so that none of the chute opening is covered by the guard flap when the chute is positioned in a downwardly facing direction. The difficulties inherent in the art are therefore overcome in a way that is simple and efficient, while providing better and more advantageous overall results.